The Heart of Healing

By Katherine Macomber Millman, LMP

What is at the heart of healing? There are so many elements that are key to healing: intention, space, time, help, a witness; medicine, movement, prayer, touch; good food, clean air, clean water and sunshine; family, friends and community; attitude, gratitude, hope and faith; laughter, sleep, a sense of safety, comfort – it’s quite a list.

It is a list primarily of conditions, people and techniques. But I am going to suggest that there is something fundamental, something that lies at the very heart of healing – and being able to access that “something” is ultimately what makes healing possible. That “something” is a mind state, the precursor to which is being relaxed.

I got my first clue about this from a children’s book. When my daughter was around five, we used to read her books about a pig named Poppleton. He was a very polite pig, generally calm, kind and good-natured. One day, his friend Fillmore, a goat, offered to take him out sailing. Poppleton wasn’t too sure about going out on the water, having never been sailing before, but his friend convinced him he’d have a marvelous time. “All you have to do is sit back and relax,” said Fillmore. So, they set out. Now, just about the time that Poppleton was starting to sit back and enjoy himself, the wind picked up. Fillmore thought this was an exciting development. Poppleton, however, asked politely, “Could we go back, now?” But Fillmore was having a good time. And the wind picked up even more. Now Poppleton was starting to grip the sides of the boat. “Fillmore, could we please go back?” he asked. Fillmore, meanwhile, was totally enjoying the feel of the wind in his scruffy beard. “Relax!” said Fillmore. And the wind picked up even more! This was too much for Poppleton, and finally he yelled out, “NOT RELAXED!!!” into the wind.

To this day, “NOT RELAXED!!!” is a family code for “This isn’t working for me! I’m starting to freak out!” And because we don’t want to end up capsizing the boat, like Fillmore the goat finally did, that little phrase usually helps us change course.

For Poppleton, being relaxed was a precursor to having a good time. How can you have a good time when you’re in a total panic? You can’t. When you’re in a panic, your body is contracted. When your body is contracted, it’s harder for your blood and lymph to move around. It’s harder for your chi to flow. It’s harder for your cranial rhythm to establish itself. It’s harder for you to breathe. You may have fabulous T-cells, a great cholesterol count, be the perfect weight for your body type, have your diabetes under control, walk every day, eat good foods – but if your body’s “not relaxed,” it’s going to be harder for you to heal.

That’s why sleep – rest – is such good medicine. When your conscious mind shuts off, your body can get to work healing itself.

When someone comes to get a massage, it’s rare for them to fall asleep. But it’s not unusual for them to relax so deeply, that their minds enter an “altered state” (dropping from beta to alpha brain waves, or even deeper). In this altered state, held emotions and thoughts begin to surface. There is an invitation and an opportunity to release.

For example, a client, whom I’ll call Brad, was able to relax very deeply and get into an “altered state” of consciousness. This allowed him to access previously unexpressed personal history. He trusted me. Brad had never told anyone about his Dad beating him with a board. Once the story came out, so did the tears – the deep sadness, the sense of betrayal – that had been held in tight muscles all these years. His muscles relaxed: when he got off the table, he was walking differently -- with a more relaxed gait.

How did that happen? This is what I think: techniques and conditions aside, he was able to get into such a relaxed state, that his whole being could just slide over into the reality where All is One. That moment may have been microscopic; it may have lasted several seconds or minutes. But essentially he got to visit that place where there is no pain, no separation, no self, no other, and in that place, his body experienced – accessed -- the heart of healing. The source. If there were a location for the cosmic re-set button, this would be it. But you have to “be relaxed” to access it: and Brad did.

Perhaps if Poppleton had gotten some coaching – maybe breathed really deeply, or had his llama friend, Cherry Sue, hold his hand – he’d have “been relaxed” enough to get into that special “altered state” that sailors know so well. Perhaps he would have healed his fear by sliding into the reality where All is One. Perhaps, if he were truly fortunate, he would have touched into the heart of healing. But that would have been a different story...

(Poppleton Everyday, by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Mark Teague, can be found at the Port Townsend Public Library. The story is recounted from memory, not from the book.)